NEW HAMPTON — A tiny car that actually goes pretty fast will soon bring a touch of la dolce vita to Route 17M.

Johnstons Toyota Scion plans to open a Fiat dealership this summer, Vice President Steve Jardine said.

If he sells enough of the cars — best pictured zigzagging up a cobblestone street in a city like Florence — he'll be able to offer another Italian car, Alfa Romeo.

The foreign vehicles add to the influx of higher-end dealerships, including Lexus, that plan to line Route 17M.

Just a couple of years ago, a number of dealerships located along the thoroughfare closed when sales slumped in the recession. Around the same time, Toyota struggled with recall issues and inventory shortages resulting from the Japanese tsunami, Jardine said.

But, Jardine was able to take advantage of low real estate prices and bought property adjacent to his existing dealership for $1.6 million in April, creating a 15-acre car-selling compound.

A plumbing-supply store immediately next door to Johnstons will make way for the Fiat dealership, he said.

Jardine will put overflow from the existing Scion and Toyota business in the other lot, a former Suzuki dealership.

A shuttered Chrysler dealership across the street from Johnstons — another victim of the auto sales crash in 2008 and 2009, will soon become a non-denominational Christian church.

Jardine said the Fiat expansion reminds him of Johnstons Toyota's roots. In the early 1960s, a Toyota representative approached the Johnstons at their service station in Maybrook and asked them if they would like to sell the Japanese vehicle.

It was almost the exact same scenario with Fiat, Jardine said. A representative from the company had been looking for an existing dealer in the region who had space for Fiats.

Jardine had just bought the properties next to his dealership. He thought he would use them to expand the Toyota and Scion business, but couldn't pass up the opportunity to sell a new car line.

"May lightning strike twice!!" is how the dealership described the development on its Facebook page.

Car companies usually require dealers to pay for the opportunity to sell the vehicles, similar to a franchise fee, but Fiat didn't, Jardine said.

The sweet deal aside, Jardine said that selling the car, which is new to the area, will be a challenge. The Johnstons only sold 28 Toyotas during their first year in business, Jardine said.

He hopes to beat that number by at least a few. He'll likely hatch some of his quirky marketing schemes to get the cars out on the road.

To sell Scion IQs, another car dwarfed by even small compact cars, Jardine got creative. He dolled one up for the Mayhem & Madness Comedy Tour. The white car has a grin painted on the grill, smiley faces on the side doors, and a smooch on the rear.

Another white IQ, which is almost spherical in shape, is painted like a baseball. Jardine had the seats covered in baseball glove leather, and allows the Hudson Valley Renegades to use it as a promotion.

Jardine already has some ideas in the works for the Fiat. Perhaps as a flashy car for a pizza delivery service? Jardine is keeping his ideas under wraps for now.